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In the 1960s, The Miami Herald ran several stories implying the life of area homosexuals as synonymous with pimps and child molesters, and CBS aired a documentary entitled "The Homosexuals" in 1967, warning viewers that young boys were in danger from predatory men. From 1956 to 1966, the Johns Committee of the Florida Legislature actively sought to root out homosexuals in state employment and in public universities across the state, publishing the inflammatory " Purple Pamphlet," which described homosexuals in Florida. Although gay nightlife in the city had enjoyed the same boisterous existence as other forms of entertainment in the 1930s, by the 1950s, the city government worked to shut down as many gay bars as possible and enacted laws making homosexuality and cross-dressing illegal. The general attitude about homosexuality in Miami mirrored many other cities across the country. The group was headed by three gay activists: Jack Campbell, an owner of 40 gay bathhouses across the United States, political and gay activist Bob Basker, and Bob Kunst, a local publicist and enthusiast of the Human Potential Movement. Commissioner Ruth Shack proposed the bill on Decemat the request of a gay lobbying organization, named the Dade County Coalition for the Humanistic Rights of Gays, that was less than a year old. On January 18, 1977, the Dade County Commission approved a law that would outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public services. Despite its success, Save Our Children brought widespread opposition and boycotts towards Bryant by the LGBT community and its supporters in the entertainment industry, tarnishing her reputation and ending her career as an entertainer. For many gay people, the surprise at the outcome of all the campaigns in 19 instilled a new determination and consolidated activism and communities in many cities where the gay community had not been politically active. Homosexuality, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), abortion, and pornography were among the issues most central to the Moral Majority's priorities until it folded in 1989. the chirpy Bryant was the ideal model for its antigay crusade." Within two years Jerry Falwell developed a coalition of conservative religious groups named the Moral Majority that influenced the Republican Party to incorporate a social agenda in national politics. A mother, celebrity singer, former Miss America. Although "occasional antigay appeals from the right" existed prior to the campaign, "the new right struck pure gold in Anita Bryant. Historians have since connected the success of Save Our Children with the organization of conservative Christian participation in political processes. Save Our Children was also involved in Seattle, Washington, where they were unsuccessful, and heavily influenced Proposition 6, a proposed state law in California that would have made the firing of openly gay public school employees mandatory, which was rejected by California voters in 1978. Paul, Minnesota Wichita, Kansas and Eugene, Oregon overturned ordinances in those cities, sharing many of the same campaign strategies that were used in Miami. The defeat of the ordinance encouraged groups in other cities to attempt to overturn similar laws. Save Our Children was the first organized opposition to the gay rights movement, whose beginnings were traced to the Stonewall riots in 1969. In response to this vote, a group of gay and lesbian community members formed Pride South Florida, now known as Pride Fort Lauderdale, an organization whose mission was to fight for the rights of the gay and lesbian community in South Florida. When the repeal of the ordinance went to a vote, it attracted the largest response of any special election in Dade County's history, passing by 70%. It was a well-organized campaign that initiated a bitter political fight between gay activists and Christian fundamentalists.
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The coalition was publicly headed by celebrity singer Anita Bryant, who claimed the ordinance discriminated against her right to teach her children biblical morality. was an American political coalition formed in 1977 in Miami, Florida, to overturn a recently legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexual orientation. Brochure used by Save Our Children in 1977